The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) says it issued more than 2 million passports to Nigerians in 2023.
Comptroller-General Immigration, Caroline Wura-Ola Adepoju, disclosed this on Tuesday during a Diaspora virtual lecture series.
The lecture was tagged ‘New Passport Policy/Processes for Nigerians in the Diaspora Confirmation’ organised by the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM.
Adepoju said the mass relocation of Nigerians to developed countries also known as ‘Japa’ has spurred an unprecedented rise in the number of passport applications.
According to the CGI, 2021 recorded the issuance of 1.3 million passports while 1.5 million passports were issued in the following year 2022 representing about a 50 per cent surge in the applications.
In 2023, there was over 100 per cent increase in applications with 2,141,300 passports issued last year.
She also lauded the automation of the passport process to reduce human interface with the immigration officers, as a great initiative for passport applicants.
The CGI stated that since the automation went live last month, over 100,000 applications were received online, and over 80 per cent of them were processed without challenges.
She added that the reform of the passport process would reduce pressure on the strained facilities of NIS nationwide.
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